Reconciliation
by AlsoI'mBatman
Summary: It is the anniversery of the day that changed Dick Grayson's life. He's feeling broken and empty when another event that would change his life happens.


**Reconciliation **

It was the anniversery of their deaths.

His parent's deaths.

Dick Grayson's parents.

All day the ten year old carried around a dark feeling. No matter how many times Bruce put a caring hand on his shoulder, the feeling would not go away.

_What makes this day hurt so much more than all the others?_ Dick thought miserably. He spent all day giving Bruce half-hearted smiles that never reached his eyes. He was exhausted.

But now, finally, _finally,_ the day was over. He was in no mood to stay in the Batcave or go out as Robin, so he refused the offer of patrol.

Bruce's way of grieving for his own parents was getting the anger out on the criminals of Gotham, and Dick knew that on the anniversery of Bruce's parent's deaths, Batman always used more force than needed. But this was not the way _Dick _handled things. Dick needed to think. He needed to quietly grieve and work things out in his head.

This was exactly the reason why he requested to be left out of patrol. So instead he layed in the middle of his bed with the overstuffed covers pulled up to his chin as he stared at the ceiling. The feeling of emptyness in his stomach would not go away.

He remembered the time he had broken two of his ribs by getting on the wrong end of a crowbar in the Joker's hands. The feelings in his chest were strangely similar to the physical pain he had felt then.

He remembered lying on the ground as Batman had pulled the Joker from over his limp body, as he clutched his shattered ribs gently. He remembered how every breath he took _hurt_ so badly as he heard the sounds of Batman using much more force than needed on the Joker, putting him in much more pain than he ever had before for hurting the young vigilante.

Now he felt almost the same. Every breath hurt so bad. But this was emotional pain. This pain couldn't be fixed by Batman beating up the Joker, then picking Robin up as gently as possible to bring him home to Alfred. This pain couldn't be fixed by gentle hands and 'Get Well Soon' wishes from his guardians. This pain couldn't be fixed at all.

The hole in his heart increased as he thought about the moves and routines he and his parents completed at Haley's Circus as the Flying Graysons. Part of the reason he loved being Robin was the freedom to fly like he had with them.

Just as his mother said he was born to do.

Fly.

And sometimes when he was in the air, he could almost feel the touch of his parent's guiding him through the sky, helping him complete the complex twists and turns as he traveled throughout the city.

He tried to think of happy thoughts, but ended up feeling empty and hollow before the exhaustion from emotional fatigue took over his mind and body, and he drifted to sleep.

A moment later, when he opened his eyes, the only scene left in front of him was a completly white world for as long and far as he could see. The expansion of white was uninterrupted by anything but himself. He shook slightly as the feeling of being completly alone in the bright void consumed him.

_Where am I? Am I dreaming?_

He suddenly saw two dark figures moving toward him from a great distance away. He could not make out the identities of either one, however, and a feeling in his stomach told him he was in danger. But there was something strangly compelling to him, telling him to walk forward and meet the strangers.

The feeling of heavy stones in his stomach turned to elation as the shadowy figures moved close enough for him to recognize their shapes.

_**Mom.**_

_**Dad.**_

The feeling of elation soon turned to butterflies as he became nervous. _What if they don't like what I've become? What if they don't approve? What if-_

They were nearing him. Getting closer, and their pace was quickening. He knew they recognized him too. As they got closer, the light shown more clearly on their familiar faces, and Dick found himself holding his breath. After a moment he started running toward the smaller figure, his mother, as she held her arms open and quickened her pace as he came into her view.

They collided in a moment of pure elation, tears running down both of their faces. The slightly taller figure, Dick's father, rested a hand on Dick's back as his mother held him tightly. She kissed him softly on the cheek, her light pink lipstick brushing his cheekbone lightly.

"Mom! Dad! I never thought I'd see you again. I love you, I love you so much," Dick paused to wipe the tears from his face, "I never thought I'd have to live without you-"

"Shh. It's okay," Dick's father, John Grayson, soothed, "We're here. Everything's okay."

Dick's mother, Mary Grayson, loosened her hold on her son, but didn't let go of his hand, as if she thought letting him go would allow him to slip away. She wiped the tears from her face softly as the boy looked from one of his lost parent's to the other.

"There's so many things we want to tell you, my little Robin," She closed her eyes as she whispered the statement, and Dick widened his eyes eagerly. He made sure to look closely at his parents, memorizing everything he could.

The way his mother's eyes crinkled up when she smiled. The way the corner of his father's mouth constantly stayed upturned, as if he was always crookedly smiling. The soft feel of his mother's hand on his own, even with the callouses on her palm, surely from all the years she spent mastering the trapeze. And most of all the light behind their eyes as they looked at each other.

His stomach twisted when he realised that it was the same light that he had seen snuffed out and left dark as their bodies lay broken underneath the trapeze on the night that changed his life.

"I think the thing we've been wanting to tell you the most is that we love you," Mary continued, "You've done so many things that we would've never dreamed of."

He searched his mother's face for confirmation of her statement before searching his father's face for the same thing. John gave him a crooked smile while wiping tears from his cheeks.

"You mean like becoming a vigilante?" Dick cringed, he couldn't imagine his parents ever approving the lifestyle when they were alive. The butterflies came back to his stomach as he waited for a reply. John laughed softly, a sound Dick took special note of.

"Yes, like becoming a vigilante," he said with his signiture crooked smile.

"And you... you don't mind..." Dick trailed off. Mary squeezed his hand tighter.

"You save _lives_, Dick. That's so amazing, we're so _proud_."

Relief flooded through Dick's mind. _They __**are**__ proud! _

"And," John added, "We're always watching to make sure your safe."

It was this statement that caused Dick's eyes to widen even more.

"You... you do?"

"Of course," Mary Grayson assured him,"We'll always protect you, little Robin."

She pulled him into another embrace, and John wrapped his own arms around both of them, drawing them all together. After a moment they pulled away slightly to look Dick in the eyes, but it was Dick to break the silence.

"But you're happy? Wherever you are I mean..."

"Yes," John answered, he looked over at his wife fondly and gave her a smile, "We are in a wonderful place, and we still have each other."

Dick smiled and buried his head into his parent's arms once again. After a moment, a panicked thought entered his mind.

"What about... Bruce?" He asked cautiously,"I... I don't want you to think that I'm forgetting you..." Tears streaked down Dick's face once again. He didn't know what he would do if his parents told him they were offended by his attachment to Bruce. Not only did he have nowhere else to go, but he truly did love Bruce.

"Oh, sweetheart, Bruce is a wonderful man, and we owe him the world for giving you a wonderful, if not unique, home," Mary broke Dick's worried thoughts with the reassuring words.

"But you don't think I'm replacing you..." Dick searched his mother and father's eyes desperately.

"No of course not!" John spoke quickly before lowering his voice and adding,"Dick, you can't live in the past forever. We know you love us. Truly we know. And you need someone to take care of you now, and I don't just mean shelter," John's reached around Dick's shoulders to pull him close, "You need parents. Bruce Wayne can be your father."

Something in Dick's heart broke down. There was so much relief that came with his father's words, but at the same time, unbearable sadness. John was accepting Bruce as his new father. Even though Dick had considered Bruce to be his father for a long time, there was still something inside him that was sad to hear his father let him go. It was bittersweet. He felt the emotions tangle, as he was so very, very happy and saddened at the same time.

"You'll always be my dad too," Dick whispered.

"I know," John said as he buried his head into the little acrobat's shoulder.

But then all at once the comforted feelings were shattered as the white world around them began to get hazy around the edges. John slowly released Dick from the embrace.

"We have to go now, son," Mary explained.

"No! When am I going to see you again?!" Dick called, but the words seemed to be harder to hear, as if they had to travel a great distance to reach their destination, as if it had been muffled behind glass.

"Don't worry, we're always with you. Just remember that. We love you."

John took a hold of his wife's hand gently and they began to blur out of Dick's vision.

"I love you!" Dick shouted. They were still only feet away but the words were barely audible. He worried for a moment the words were lost, but was assured that they were not when his mother and father nodded and waved back. Tears streamed freely down all three of the Grayson's faces.

A sound, something like ocean waves crashing against the shore crescendoed into a great wall of noise. Dick fell to his knees as the vision of his parents blurred until they were gone and he was left with the enormous blank space.

The expansion of white, combined with the rushing water noise disoriented him. He covered his ears with his hands as the sound got louder and louder. The white around him grew dimmer and dimmer until it was black, and he shut his eyes tight. In a blink the noise stopped. When he opened his eyes he was in his room.

He shot up into a sitting position and started to recall the events of what he thought was a dream. He started to cry again when he realized that his parents were once again gone. He grabbed a pillow to muffle his cries and sat in his bed for a few minutes. Half of the sobs were from the misery of losing his parents again, but the other half was from the happiness that he got to tell his parents he loved them.

_It was really them, right?_

Dick dragged himself from the bed and entered the bathroom that connected to his room. He squinted after turning on the light and waited for his eyes to adjust before attempting to open them fully. He stood in front of the mirror and turned on the faucet, his intentions being to splash his face with the cold water. But something in the mirror caught his eye and made him stop dead in his place.

Just over his cheekbone was a brush of light pink lipstick.

He put his hand to the spot and turned his head to see it more clearly. It was definitley the shade his mother had been wearing when she kissed him. _Is it true? Was it real?_ Another tear made it's way down the boy's face. But this time it was because of happiness.

He gave a sincere smile at his reflection, and this time it reached his eyes. He didn't take his hand off the soft pink mark on his cheekbone. After staring for a few more seconds and turning off the faucet and bathroom light, he made his way back to his bed.

He layed down in the middle of his bed with the overstuffed covers pulled up to his chin, and stared at the ceiling. The feeling in his chest made him feel as if he was floating, he was so unbelievably happy.

_**Mom.**_

_**Dad.**_

He closed his eyes and drifted into a peaceful, and uninterruped sleep.


End file.
